Rotary engine.



G. MILLER. ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED 13110.7, 1909. RENEWED JAN.23, 1913.

1,093,796. I Patented Apr. 21, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IIVVENTOI? CHARLES MILLER g fli r/(M 64 W1( Mb} TTOHNEYS WITNESSEScoLuMmA ELANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D. c.

0. MILLER. ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION IILED DEOJ, 1909. RENEWED JAN. 23,1913. 1,093,796. P n ed Apr. 21, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L r I ,7 r' 1;- WITNESSES. INVENTOR 6 CHARLES MILLER ATTORNE Y8 a/Mv 77MO. MILLER.

110mm ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 7, 1909. RENEWED JAN. 23, 1913.

1 09 3 79 Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

1 w'" :|""'-/5 "II M 5 36 1 3 v 38 I 1 I ll 54 1, 54 f3 WITNESSES:INVENTOR /g W7? I CHARLES MILLER WMM/PH ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOORAPHcO-. WASHINGTON. D. e.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES MILL-ER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR- TO MILLER MOTOR COMPANY,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914;.

Application filed December 7, 1909, Serial No. 531,881. Renewed January23, 1913. Serial No. 743,874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES MILLER, a citizenof the United States, residing 1n the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rotary Engines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that type of rotary engines in which one or morepistons are driven continuously in one direction or the other about acentral axis and in an appropriate endless chamber to which said pistonsare fitted, the actuating medium being su1t-. able gas, such as steam orair, admltted to the chamber under pressure and at suitable times.

In Patents Nos. 924,173, dated June 8,1 1909, and 931,785, dated August24;, 1909, I

have shown and described improved engines of the general type hereinreferred to.

My present invention has particular relation to special modes ofgrouping the cylinders and cooperating abutments in engines of the classdescribed, and one of its objects.

is to secure a gain of efficiency as well as of power for unit ofwelght. V

A further object is to minimize latera 5 pressure on rotating parts bycausing SELlCll parts to be balanced.

My present invention relates further to The object of these severalimprovements is to provide a more efficient engine capable of beingmanufactured with greater flexibility of operation and in which powerlosses shall be reduced to a minimum.

Referring to the drawings which are hereby made a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is an elevation of a preferred form of engineembodying my present improvements with the front half of the enginecasing removed; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, the front half ofthe engine being in place, but with the top of the steam chest (valvecasing) omitted; Fig. 8 is a central longitudinal section of the entireassembled on gine, part elevation, along the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4is a view in elevation of a modified form of my invention, the fronthalf of the engine casing being omitted;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l, but with the front half of theengine casing in place, the top of the valve casing being omitted; Fig.6 is a perspective view showing the cut-off regulating ring; Fig. 7 is aperspective view showing one of the reversing or port valves; Fig. 8 isan enlarged vertical and axial section through one pair of pistons; Fig.9 is a horizontal section along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is anelevation of still another form of my invention; and Fig. 11 is a planview of Fig. 10.

Referring to the drawings, land 2 are metal castings, held together bybolts 3, comprising a main casing in which are formed the annularcylinders 4 which are preferably circular in section. These cylindersare in the same plane and have their centers equally spaced along thesame straight line. In each cylinder is a pair of diametrally oppositepistons 5, 5 rigidly fixed to a thin core 6 which is itself fixed to ashaft 7, suitably journaled in the main casing above and below, and uponand with which each piston system adapted to revolve. To insure steamtight connection between each piston and its cylinder, spring rings 8are peripherally attached to said pistons as is practised inreciprocating engines. Midway between each pair of shafts 7 and parallelwit-h them is a shaft 9 whichcarries an abutment 10. This abutment is astructure comprising two identical and di ametrally opposed thin tubularsegments or heads 11, 11 having sides and ends respectively parallel andperpendicular to shaft 9, said segments being centrally united, as alsoaffixed to the shaft, by a thin core 19.. Opposite'sides of oppositesegments are united by narrow ring sections 13 at top and bottom, theserings usually being continuing portions of the segments themselves andhence integrally attached thereto. Each pair of these segments isadapted to move in an annular abutment slot 14, which like the steamchambers, is formed in the main casing and intersects adjacent cylindersas shown. This slot is axially longer than the diameter of the steamcylinders, thus extending beyond said cylinders on each side. (See Fig.3.)

Directly above each of the abutment-s and thus midway between adjacentcylinders is a steam chest or valve casing 15 which may be formedintegrally with the front half of the main casing, or may be attachedthereto by any desired and usual method. Each valve casing has a cover16 bolted thereon, and a pipe 17 common to all said casings openingthrough said cover into the interior of the casing; the main pipe 18,opening centrally into pipe 17, carries the steam supply. Just withineach. valve casing and opposite the opening of pipe 17 is a suitablysupported plate 18 In each valve casing and central with shaft 9 is avalve 19 consisting of a thin septum 20 having similar annular segments21 at each end; this valve is rigidly fixed to shaft 9 thus rotatingwith it and the abutment 10, and the thin end septa are snugly fitted tothe inner peripheral walls of a cut-off ring itself fitted within avalve chamber 21 formed within the casing.

Diametrally opposite in each casing and on a diagonal are two ports 22;each port leads from the peripheral wall of the valve chamber, where ithas the form of a wide slot, by a narrowing passage through a reversingvalve 23, by means of which it may be joined or cut off from an inletport 24:, which, in the form of a narrow slot substantially tangent tothe axis of its cylinder, extends outwardly and downwardly into saidcylinder.

Each reversing valve 23 has the form of an inverted box in one side ofwhich is a slot 2 1 and at the top of which is a central spindleterminating in a square end 25 adapted to be grasped by a suitable key.This spindle constitutes a journal by means of which the reversing valveis fixed to the top 16 of the valve chamber and upon which it may berotated as will be hereinafter described.

Valve 19 is concentric with and snugly fitted within what I term acut-off regulating ring 26. This ring is itself fitted in the same waysnugly within the circular casing 21 formed in the valve chamber 15. Ineach of these regulating rings is cut a pair of opposite rectangularopenings 27 and on one side of the ring between said openings is cut aseries of spur teeth 28. These teeth are arranged to gear with a smallpinion 29 ournaled at one side of the valve chamber, each of thesepinions 29 being furnished with a square head projecting above the topof said chamber so that, by means of a suitable key, the pinion may berotated so as to rotate the ring 26 within its chamber. As shown in Fig.2 the opening 27 of the ring coincides with the outer opening of theport 22. By rotating the ring one way or the other this port 22 will beclosed upon one side or the other so as to lessen the width of the slotby which it opens into the inlet port 24: and thus into the centralsteam chamber. As valve 19 revolves, steam will be admitted into eachport 22 during that time when some part of the opening 30 between thevalve segments 21 coincides with some part of the opening 27 of thering. By rotating ring 26 therefore, so as to diminish this opening 27,the entering volume of steam will be lessened. and the cut-oil of theengine will. take place more quickly.

31 represents a small block extending the full height of the opening 27and having the same thickness and curvature as ring 26. This block isset at each side of each valve chamber so as to project into opening 27and to be flush with its inner periphery each side of the block alsoconstituting an inner side wall of each. adjacent port 22. Each block 31fixes the rotation of ring 26 between limits, which allow port 22 to bemoved anywhere between fully opened or fully closed; furthermore, itprevents what would happen if it were a part of the ring 26 instead ofseparate therefrom, viz., stean'l from passing from the valve chamberinto port 22 around the edge or end of segment 21 before the port 22 wasproperly uncovered by the valve in case opening 27 were rotated awayfrom 22.

In the central line of the cylinder axes and on the opposite side ofeach valve chamber is cut a rectangular slot 32 leading from eachcylinder into a steam passage 33 in said valve chamber, said passage 33being connected by another passage 34 to the outside of the engine; thisslot 32 is an auxiliary exhaust for the purpose hereinafter to bedescribed.

As shown in the drawings 22 and 22 are ports similar to the inlet ports22, 22 in every respect and leading to similar passages 2 1, 24. Thevalves 23', 23 are also similar to valves 23, 23 and operate in the sameway. As shown the valves 23, 23 are set so that 22, 22 are cut off andpassages 33 and 24 are connected.

The several piston and abutment shafts carry on one side of the enginesupport gear wheels 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 of equal diameter and meshingin one another, thus compelling the shafts to rotate with the sameangular velocity. The smooth pulley 40 attached to one of these shafts,preferably the central one, permits power to be taken from the engine.

The valve segments 21 are not lined up with their correspondingabutments but angularly thereto as shown in Fig. 2.

The operation of the engine is as follows: The moving parts being as inFig. 2, steam having been admitted to the inlet pipe 18 is carried bythe pipe 17 to the several valve chambers where it impinges upon theplate 18 and fills each chamber. The engine being started by hand, inletports 22 will be partly uncovered by the valve segments 21 and steamadmitted. This steam will pass by way of 24c and enter the steamcylinders behind each piston, which it will drive in the direction ofthe arrow. lVhen the valve has rotated through the necessary angle about90 as drawn, ports 22 will again be covered and the steam shut off. Eachpiston will also have rotated through the same angle and will nowcontinue to rotate under the expansion of the steam now in the cylinder,this expansion continuing until abutment head 11 has passed completelyacross the cylinder and permitted the opposite piston 5 to swing past.For a few degrees of rotation the charge of steam which we have beenconsidering, will now be carried as a dead charge until piston 5 haspassed above port 2%, at which time this charge will exhaust throughsaid port and the exhaust passages 33 and After piston 5 has passed port2% and as it is passing to a corresponding position above the centerline of the engines, consideration will show that the volume between thepiston and abutment 11 just ahead of said piston is constantlydecreasing so that any steam or air contained between said piston andsaid abutment will be compressed. This, of course, will operate like anyother back pressure and tend to retard the engine and diminish itsefiiciency and it is for the purpose of preventing this that I havearranged the auxiliary exhaust. 32.

As above described and as shown in Fig. 2, the piston of my engine mustrotate counter-clockwise, as shown by the arrows. By rotating each inletvalve 23 so as to shut port 22 and open passage 33 and each exhaustvalve 23 so as to close 33 and open 22 I may cause the engine to reverseits direction of motion.

In the engine shown by my Patents 924,173 and 931,785 before referred toI have employed two cylinders symmetrically situated on each side of theabutment system; in said engine the steam pressure upon the abutmentonly was balanced, the two power cylinders being unbalanced. In mypresent engine, as above described, I have a third power cylinder,which, other things being equal, should give me 50% more power. By thearrangement employed, however, I now have one of the three powercylinders as also two abutment systems completely balanced so that thereis a gain of power over that due to the addition of the extra cylinderper 86.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a modified form of my invention comprisingessentially the engine shown in Figs. 1 to 3 with the two outside powercylinders omitted. lVith these outer power cylinders omitted the innerports 22, 22, 22 22 are exactly the same as the corresponding ports ofthe two valve chambers in Figs. 1 and 3 and have exactly the samefunction, namely that of controlling the steam inlet and exhaust of thecentral power cylinder. The outer ports are, however, not required,since there are no corresponding power cylinders to be controlled. Iretain them, however, much as in the first described construction,except that the slots ll are tangent to the annular abutment chamberinstead of to the power cylinder as before and said slots extenddownwardly and open into pockets 42, 42 formed below the ports in theperipheral wall of the abutment chamber. As shown in Fig. 5 valves 43,4-3, are inlet valves, and 43, 43 are outlet or exhaust valves, theparts moving as shown by the arrows. In this case the diagonallyopposite valves -l-l, it, are set as shown, so that steam issimultaneously admitted to the pockets 42, 42, the remaining pockets 4142 being shut off. If the engine is to be reversed, all the centralpower cylinder valves are altered as before explained for Figs. 1 to 3and pockets 42 4:2, opened while pockets 42, 4.2, are closed.

Figs. 8 and 9 show in detail an improved method of keeping the pistonexpansion rings fitted tightly to their inclosing cylinders. Here 4.5 isthe expansion ring (concave centrally and convex outwardly to fit thecylinder in which it rotates) which is cut through so as to remove aV-shaped piece or notch so that the ends of the ring will fit againstthe corresponding V-shaped portion of a cylindrical plug 46, insertedinto a corresponding diametral hole drilled in the piston proper. At thesmall end of the V is a spindle 47, entered slidably in the holesuitably drilled in the core 6. 48 is aspindle terminating below inacone and above in a screw thread engaging a nut 49 fixed to the maincasing. l hen 4-8 is lowered or 'aised the spindle 47 is moved in andout so as to shift the V-shaped portion of 46 and thus force the pistonring 45 outwardly or permit it to move inwardly as the case may be; aspring 50 retained in place by a screw plug 51 keeps a constant inwardpressure upon 46.

In the engine of Figs. 1 to 3, employing three power cylinders, mentionhas been made of the spur gears by means of which these power cylindersand their abutment systems are caused to move at uniform speed and indefinite registry. Gears of this kind are more or less noisy as well asexpensive. Furthermore, when used in amedium to transmit power theythemselves absorb considerable of the power developed and detract by somuch from the elliciency of the engine as a whole. In this form ofengine the power is generally taken from a central shaft, as from pulley4:0, and the outer power cylinders must in the case of the gearedarrangement transmit their power through the gears to the central shaft.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 10 and 11 I do not use gears on theoutside power shafts, but only on the central power shaft and the twoadjoining abutments. Instead I attach, to the central power shaft, abalanced crank arm 52, and to the two outside power shafts similar crankarms 53, 53, all these cranks being arranged parallel'with one another.I then connect the outer eX- tremities of the cranks by a pair ofconnecting rods 54. With this arrangement each power cylindercommunicates its power direct to the central shaft without any lossthrough gearing and without severe gear strain tending to break thegears. The gears used on the central power shaft and adjoining abutmentshafts transmit only so much power as may be required to rotate theabutments and, since these are balanced, this power is substantiallynegligible.

While I have described my invention as embodied in preferred forms I donot limit myself to the actual constructions shown but, on the contrary,may make many changes in details without departing from the spirit ofthe invention which is set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a rotary engine of the class described a system of steam controlcomprising a pair of independent inlet ports each leading from the powercylinder to one side of independent valves, a pair of outer ports eachleading from the steam chest to the other side of said valves, and anouter exhaust port leading from the last mentioned sides of said valves,

and common to both valves, to the atmosphere, said valves being eachadjustable so as to connect an inlet port with an outer port or withthe'exhaust port at will, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. In an engine having a rotary piston system cooperating with anabutment, in combination, a rotary valve adapted to control the steamsupply, a steam port, an adjustable ring closely embracing said valve,said ring being provided with an opening adapted to cooperate with saidport, and a block projecting into said ring opening at the side of saidport, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In an engine having a rotary piston system cooperating with anabutment, in

combination, a valve chamber, a rotary valve.

within said chamber, a steam supply pipe connected with said chamber andmeans for spreading the steam supply as it enters the valve chamber,substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In an engine having a rotary piston provided with an expansion ringmeans attached to said piston and operable from without the enginewhereby said ring may be adjusted without stopping the engine,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. An engine comprising, in linear arrangement, a plurality of rotatingpiston systems alternated with a plurality of 006 erating rotatingabutments, connecting rods uniting the piston systems together, and agear uniting each abutment to its adjacent piston system, as and for thepurpose described.

6. In an engine having a rotary piston, an expansion ring upon saidpiston having a V- shaped notch cut therefrom, and means for pressingthe ends of said ring apart.

7. In an engine having a rotary piston, an expansion ring upon saidpiston having a V shaped notch cut therefrom, a spindle having a Vshaped portion lying between the ends of said ring and means for movingsaid spindle so as to press said ring ends a greater or less distanceapart.

8. In an engine having a rotary piston, an expansion ring upon saidpiston having a V- shaped notch cut therefrom, a spindle attached to andmoving with said piston one end of the spindle being engaged with theends of said ring, a cone engaging the other end of said spindle andmeans for moving said cone so as to alter the position of the spindleend with reference to the ends of the ring.

9. In a rotary engine, a casing, a rotary piston operable therewithin,an expansion ring upon said piston having a V-shaped notch cuttherefrom, a spindle attached to and moving with the piston and having aV-shaped end engaging the ends of the piston ring, a cone connected withthe casing and engaged with the other end of said spindle and means formoving said cone axially whereby the piston may be expanded.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed. my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES MILLER.

lVitnesses ELMER Gr. WILLYOUNG,

JOHN A. KEHLENBECK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

